IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jcopol/v46y2023i3d10.1007_s10603-023-09543-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

ABC of Online Consumer Disclosure Duties: Improving Transparency and Legal Certainty in Europe

Author

Listed:
  • J. Luzak

    (University of Exeter Law School
    University of Amsterdam)

  • A. J. Wulf

    (SRH Berlin University of Applied Sciences)

  • O. Seizov

    (SRH Berlin University of Applied Sciences)

  • M. B. M. Loos

    (University of Amsterdam)

  • M. Junuzović

    (University of Amsterdam
    The Dutch Authority for Financial Markets)

Abstract

Following a series of complimentary studies assessing the current application of the principle of transparency of consumer information in Croatia, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, and the UK, this paper presents research findings on how to improve its effectiveness. Documented differences in national laws and practice indicate the need for a more harmonised approach on the level of the European Union. This demand also arises from the interviews the research team has conducted with various national stakeholders. Whilst the legislative transparency requirements could remain general, e.g., a duty for traders to provide consumer information in “plain and intelligible language,” traders, consumers, and enforcement authorities all require more legal certainty as to what amounts to compliance with these requirements. Based on the stakeholders’ suggestions, an interdisciplinary literature review, findings from doctrinal, comparative legal research, and a conducted quantitative study, the paper recommends empirically motivated, multimodal guidelines to implement textual, contextual, and technical measures.

Suggested Citation

  • J. Luzak & A. J. Wulf & O. Seizov & M. B. M. Loos & M. Junuzović, 2023. "ABC of Online Consumer Disclosure Duties: Improving Transparency and Legal Certainty in Europe," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 46(3), pages 307-333, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jcopol:v:46:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s10603-023-09543-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s10603-023-09543-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10603-023-09543-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10603-023-09543-w?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yannis Bakos & Florencia Marotta-Wurgler & David R. Trossen, 2014. "Does Anyone Read the Fine Print? Consumer Attention to Standard-Form Contracts," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 43(1), pages 1-35.
    2. Aleksander Groth & Daniel Haslwanter, 2016. "Efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction of responsive mobile tourism websites: a mobile usability study," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 201-228, June.
    3. Konstantinos Evangelinos & Antonis Skouloudis & Nikoleta Jones & David Isaac & Eleni Sfakianaki, 2016. "Exploring the status of corporate social responsibility disclosure in the UK building and construction industry," International Journal of Global Environmental Issues, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 15(4), pages 377-399.
    4. Jeanne M. Hogarth & Ellen A. Merry, 2011. "Designing disclosures to inform consumer financial decisionmaking: lessons learned from consumer testing," Federal Reserve Bulletin, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), vol. 97(August), August.
    5. O. Seizov & A. J. Wulf & J. Luzak, 2019. "The Transparent Trap: A Multidisciplinary Perspective on the Design of Transparent Online Disclosures in the EU," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 149-173, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. N. Gokani, 2024. "Healthier Food Choices: From Consumer Information to Consumer Empowerment in EU Law," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 271-296, June.
    2. J. Ouyang, 2024. "“Embedded Consumer”: Towards a Constitutional Reframing of the Legal Image of Consumers in EU law," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 395-423, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. O. Seizov & A. J. Wulf & J. Luzak, 2019. "The Transparent Trap: A Multidisciplinary Perspective on the Design of Transparent Online Disclosures in the EU," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 149-173, March.
    2. Alexander J. Wulf & Ognyan Seizov, 2023. "How to improve consumers’ understanding of online legal information: insights from a behavioral experiment," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 559-584, December.
    3. Hans-Bernd Schäfer & Alexander J. Wulf, 2022. "Premature repayment of fixed interest mortgage loans without compensation, a case of misguided consumer protection in the EU," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 175-208, April.
    4. Berta Ferrer-Rosell & Germa Coenders & Estela Marine-Roig, 2017. "Is planning through the Internet (un)related to trip satisfaction?," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 229-244, June.
    5. Ganglmair, Bernhard & Krämer, Julia & Gambato, Jacopo, 2024. "Regulatory compliance with limited enforceability: Evidence from privacy policies," ZEW Discussion Papers 24-012, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    6. Konstantinos Evangelinos & Stefanos Fotiadis & Antonis Skouloudis & Nadeem Khan & Foteini Konstandakopoulou & Ioannis Nikolaou & Shaun Lundy, 2018. "Occupational health and safety disclosures in sustainability reports: An overview of trends among corporate leaders," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(5), pages 961-970, September.
    7. Rhoen, Michiel, 2016. "Beyond consent: improving data protection through consumer protection law," Internet Policy Review: Journal on Internet Regulation, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG), Berlin, vol. 5(1), pages 1-15.
    8. Sophie Bienenstock & Claudine Desrieux, 2022. "Abusive contract terms: Is unenforceability a deterrent sanction?," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 187-216, October.
    9. Stefan Bechtold & Catherine Tucker, 2014. "Trademarks, Triggers, and Online Search," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(4), pages 718-750, December.
    10. Petrikaitė, Vaiva, 2022. "Escaping search when buying," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    11. Tristan Potter & Bart Hobijn & André Kurmann, 2024. "On the inefficiency of non‐competes in low‐wage labour markets," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 91(362), pages 446-496, April.
    12. Elena Aleksandrovna Mayorova, 2019. "Corporate social responsibility disclosure: evidence from the European retail sector," Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, VsI Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, vol. 7(2), pages 891-905, December.
    13. M. G. Ceravolo & V. Farina & L. Fattobene & L. Leonelli & G. Raggetti, 2021. "Gender-Related Variability in Information Processing of Disclosure Documents," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 217-233, June.
    14. Gregor Dorfleitner & Lars Hornuf & Julia Kreppmeier, 2021. "Promise not Fulfilled: FinTech Data Privacy, and the GDPR," CESifo Working Paper Series 9359, CESifo.
    15. Christopher Jon Sprigman & Stephan Tontrup, 2024. "Privacy decision‐making and the effects of privacy choice architecture: Experiments toward the design of behaviorally‐aware privacy regulation," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(3), pages 577-631, September.
    16. D. Scheld & O. Stolper & A. Walter, 2021. "Double Dutch Finally Fixed? A Large-Scale Investigation into the Readability of Mandatory Financial Product Information," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 151-178, June.
    17. Belli, Luca & Venturini, Jamila, 2016. "Private ordering and the rise of terms of service as cyber-regulation," Internet Policy Review: Journal on Internet Regulation, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG), Berlin, vol. 5(4), pages 1-17.
    18. Baqar Ali Zardari & Zahid Hussain & Aijaz Ahmed Arain & Wajid H. Rizvi & Muhammad Saleem Vighio, 2021. "Development and Validation of User Experience-Based E-Learning Acceptance Model for Sustainable Higher Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-17, May.
    19. Ali Alotaibi & Francis Edum-Fotwe & Andrew D.F. Price, 2019. "Critical Barriers to Social Responsibility Implementation within Mega-Construction Projects: The Case of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-27, March.
    20. F. Esposito, 2021. "Towards a General Theory of Harm for Consumer Law," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 329-345, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jcopol:v:46:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s10603-023-09543-w. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.